It is a time-honoured tradition for the people following NHL teams to compare their squads against the Stanley Cup champion each and every summer. While parts of the tradition are unhelpful – stylistic comparisons, for example, are generally useless because the Red Wings don’t need to play like the Ducks to win and vice versa – it’s an interesting measuring stick in a lot of ways.

With the Edmonton Oilers finishing their second straight year at the bottom of the league, such an exercise might be regarded as needless fault-finding, but I don’t see it that way. The ultimate goal of any rebuilding team is a championship win, and it can be useful to compare just to see which areas the team needs to work on, and which areas can be regarded as relative strengths.

In a week Steve Tambellini will walk up to the microphone and announce Ryan Nugent-Hopkins as the first overall pick in the 2011 draft. Oiler fans will rejoice with the notion they finally have a true number one centre on their team, and you'll wait patiently for him to showcase his talents in the near future. Nugent-Hopkins combined with Taylor Hall, Jordan Eberle and Magnus Paajarvi will have many of you believing the Oil is finally on the road to credibility.

You are probably right, however, in the past four years Stu MacGregor and his scouts have deservingly earned your praise, but after Friday, it will be up to Steve Tambellini to build this team into a contender.

Jim Matheson at The Journal is hearing much the same things I am about Edmonton Oilers GM Steve Tambellini angling for a second top pick in the first round at the NHL Entry Draft in Minnesota next Friday.

During the 2010 NHL entry draft, Oiler fans got together to hear the big announcement: Taylor or Tyler. Over the years, Edmonton has drafted some of the truly exceptional talents in the game's history. Their draft day scouting reports still ring true all these years later.